Arapaho

Arapaho

Infobox Ethnic group
group=Arapaho


poptime=5,000
popplace=United States (Colorado, Oklahoma, Wyoming)
rels=Christianity, other
langs=English, Arapaho
related=Cheyenne and other Algonquian peoples
The Arapaho (in French: "Gens de Vache") tribe of Native Americans historically living on the eastern plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Sioux. Arapaho is an Algonquian language closely related to Gros Ventre, who are seen as an early offshoot of the Arapaho. Blackfoot and Cheyenne are the other Algonquian languages on the Plains, but are quite different from Arapaho. By the 1850s, Arapaho bands separated into two tribes: the Northern Arapaho and Southern Arapaho. The Northern Arapaho Nation has lived since 1878, with the Eastern Shoshone on the Wind River Reservation, the seventh largest reservation in the United States. The Southern Arapaho Tribe lives with the Southern Cheyenne in Oklahoma. There is no direct historical or archaeological evidence to suggest how and when Arapaho bands entered the Plains culture area. The Arapaho Indian tribe most likely lived in Minnesota and North Dakota before entering the Plains. Before European expansion into the area, the Arapahos were living in South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, and Kansas. They lived in teepees which the women made from bison hide. Before they were sent to reservations, they migrated often chasing herds, so they had to design their teepees so that they could be transported easily. It is said that a whole village could pack up their homes and belongings and be ready to leave in only an hour. In winter the tribe split up into small camps sheltered in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in present-day Colorado. In late spring they moved out onto the Plains into large camps to hunt buffalo gathering for the birthing season. In mid-summer Arapahos traveled into the Parks region of Colorado to hunt mountain herds, returning onto the Plains in late summer to autumn for ceremonies and for collective hunts of herds gathering for the rutting season.

They originally used dogs to pull travois with their belongings on them. When the Europeans came to North America, the Arapaho saw the Europeans' horses and realized that they could travel quicker and further with horses instead of dogs. They raided other Indian tribes, primarily the Pawnee and Comanche, to get the horses they needed.

Later on, they became great traders and often sold furs to other tribes and non-Indians. The name 'Arapaho' might have come from the Pawnee word for 'traders.'

The children often fished and hunted with their fathers for recreation. While they had more chores to do than present-day Arapaho, they still had time to play games. They played many games, including one involving a netted hoop and a pole where they would try to throw their pole through the center of the net. It was much like the game of darts which is enjoyed today.

In July 2005, Arapahos won a contentious court battle with the State of Wyoming to get into the gaming or casino industry. The 10th Circuit Court ruled that the State of Wyoming was acting in bad faith when it would not negotiate with the Arapahos for gaming. Presently, the Arapaho Tribe owns and operates high-stakes, Class III gaming at the Wind River Casino, Little Wind Casino and 789 Smoke Shop & Casino. They are regulated by a Gaming Commission composed of three Tribal members. The Northern Arapaho Tribe opened the first casinos in Wyoming.

During November 1864, a small village of Cheyenne and Arapaho became the victims of a controversial attack by the Union Army, led by Colonel John Chivington. This attack is now known as the Sand Creek Massacre.

The late Eugene Ridgely, a Cheyenne-Northern Arapaho artist, is generally credited with bringing to light the fact that Arapahos were involved with the Massacre. His children, Eugene "Snowball" Ridgely, and Gail Ridgely, have been instrumental in designating the massacre site as a National Historic Site.

ee also

* Arapaho language
* Arapahoe County, Colorado
* Arapahoe, Colorado
* Arapahoe, Wyoming
* Wind River Indian Reservation
* Native American tribes in Nebraska

External links

* http://tlc.wtp.net/arapaho.htm
* http://www.northernarapaho.com/
* [http://www.language-museum.com/a/arapaho.php Arapaho Language Sample]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Arapaho — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Arapaho …   Wikipedia Español

  • ARAPAHO — ARAPAH Indiens des plaines d’Amérique du Nord qui appartiennent à la famille linguistique des Algonkins, les Arapaho vivaient, au XIXe siècle, le long des rivières Platte et Arkansas. Leurs plus anciens mythes laissent penser qu’ils étaient… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Arapaho —   [ə ræpəhəʊ, englisch], Algonkin sprechender Indianerstamm in Nordamerika. Die Arapaho waren ursprünglich wohl sesshafte Feldbauern im Mittleren Westen (etwa im Gebiet von Nordminnesota), bevor sie nach Westen in die Great Plains zogen und dort… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Arapaho — Arapaho, OK U.S. town in Oklahoma Population (2000): 748 Housing Units (2000): 300 Land area (2000): 0.700763 sq. miles (1.814967 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 0.700763 sq. miles (1.814967 sq.… …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

  • Arapaho, OK — U.S. town in Oklahoma Population (2000): 748 Housing Units (2000): 300 Land area (2000): 0.700763 sq. miles (1.814967 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 0.700763 sq. miles (1.814967 sq. km) FIPS… …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

  • Arapaho — ☆ Arapaho [ə rap′ə hō΄ ] n. [< Crow aaraxpéahu, lit., (one with) many tattoos ] 1. pl. Arapaho a member of a North American Indian people formerly living in the area between the North Platte and Arkansas rivers and now living in Wyoming and… …   English World dictionary

  • Arapaho — Scabby Bull, ein Arapaho Indianer, 1898 Die Arapaho [əˈræpəˌhəʊ ] (gelegentlich auch Arapahoe geschrieben) sind ein Indianervolk Nordamerikas. Zeitweise bildeten sie mit den Cheyenne eine politische Allianz. Ihre ursprüngliche Sprache (language… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Arapaho — /euh rap euh hoh /, n., pl. Arapahos, (esp. collectively) Arapaho. 1. a member of a tribe of North American Indians of Algonquian speech stock, once dwelling in the Colorado plains and now in Oklahoma and Wyoming. 2. an Algonquian language, the… …   Universalium

  • Arapaho — Arapahos Pour les articles homonymes, voir Arapahos (homonymie). Scabby Bull, Arapaho …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Arapaho — noun 1. a member of a tribe of Plains Indians formerly inhabiting eastern Colorado and Wyoming (now living in Oklahoma and Wyoming) • Syn: ↑Arapahoe • Hypernyms: ↑Algonquian, ↑Algonquin, ↑Plains Indian, ↑Buffalo Indian 2. the Algonquian language… …   Useful english dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”